Ammonia problems

[Glyn Oliver]

I know everyone is going to tell me off but here is the story, I got a new 55 gallon tank on the 21st Dec, I set it all up and left it fishless to start cycling, I intended to leave it for however long it took, I do have the API liquid test kit by the way. Any how I also have a 10 gallon tank which was mature and had no issues, until we went on holiday over the xmas period, some one had been popping in every other day to feed the fish etc but it appears the filter malfuntioned at some point and basically stopped working. The water was in a terrible state when we got home, I changed a fair amount of water straight away but the fish looked very sick.... the neons where virtually pale, the apple snail had locked himself in his shell, the corys were just sitting on the bottom not moving and my 4 orange guppies looked very sad, I amde the decision to move the fish into the new tank, which was 2 weeks into its cycle, I figured I would lose the fish anyhow if I did nothing. The result was instant, the neons perked up and regained colour, the snail was all over the tank, the guppies cheered u and the bottom feeders became lively again. I tested the water and nothing was showing but the ph was high, I knew the tank hadn't started to cycle. Now the ammonia is starting to lift, today it was between 0.25 & 0.5 so I changed around 70 litres of water. My question is will I need to keep on with water changes till I get past the nitrite and nitrate stages or should I be using an ammonia lock to avoid damage to the fish? Appologies for the chapter and verse...... Thanks

Taff

 

[Donkey Gun]

Since your 10 gallon was already established you could've just removed some filter media from the 10 and put it in the 55g filter, and slowly begin adding fish immediately.

I believe if you do that now, you should be ok. But, definitely keep up on the daily water changes.

Oh, and btw, no one will tell you off here! We are all here to help each other...

 

[Glyn Oliver]

Thanks for the reply, I had a feeling that the good bacteria had failed in the filter as the big water changes I did never seemed to do anything, and the smell from the tank was terrible so after moving the fish I emptied the tank and never thought to try using the old media..........

 

[Rivercats]

I wouldn't have used the media from the 10 gallon especially if the tank and media smelled. Several years ago I had a filter quit while being out of town which was okay since almost every tank I have has 2 filters BUT the snails that lived in the filter had died and the smell was aweful. The sponges turned black and it was plain nasty. I trashed everything and started with fresh, even the bio-media. So I think you were wise not to use the media in the 55g.

Monitor your water daily and do WC's as often as needed to keep ammonia and nitrite under .25ppm and I think your fish will go through the cycle okay.

 

[Donkey Gun]

Sorry I meant back on December 21st when you got the tank you could've used the the media from the 10.

 

[Glyn Oliver]

Thanks everyone, all the fish are doing ok in the 55 gallon so far, I have been testing the water and doing pwc and also used ammonia lock to keep things under control, still not out of the ammonia cycle yet though, but hey, all seems good. I have cleaned the 10 gallon tank out, found the impellor in the filter was faulty so sorted that, put new media in and its up and running now.... hopefully it will have time to cycle before I put anything in it this time.......

 

[CrashCourse]

Ive never used ammo lock, but I'd recommend prime instead of the ammo lock. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the ammo lock removes the ammonia from the water?
Prime simply detoxifies the ammonia, but is still available for the beneficial bacteria to consume, without harming the fish.
I just used prime to help me finish up an endless mini cycle in my 10 gallon. Daily water changes were both annoying, and slowing down the cycle. You can't only use prime as a substitute for regular water changes, but it allowed me to skip a day here and there without worrying too much, and let higher levels (about .5 - nothing crazy) of ammonia build up to feed the bacteria faster without harming the fish. The cycle I've been battling for a month or two with almost daily water changes is now down to almost zero within a week or two. It was a very happy day for me when I saw more yellow than green in that test tube.
Also, you can dose prime every 24 hours or so with no ill effects.

 

[Wiggles24]

The absolute nest stuff to use is a product called ultimate water conditioner, a lot of products claim to make the water better but this stuff actually works it is amazing!!!!! I purchased some from angels plus but there are many other places that sell it. It's made by a company called hikari, best thing it's actually pretty cheap!